Retaining wall cost planning

The only way to control cost is to produce a fully priced bill of quantities. The first step is to take off the quantities and produce a spreadsheet.

You can then use the blank bill of quantities to obtain material and labour costs by sending out enquiries to suppliers and contractors.

When you have current prices for labour, plant and materials, you can price each work item to produce labour, plant and material budgets.

Cost control

Now you have a fully priced bill of quantities; you can use the estimate section to control cost. Make sure you buy below the estimated rates to control costs.

When paying contractors, use the bill of quantities to value the work they have completed on-site before paying them. I have seen people overpay contractors and then leave.

Most projects have changes, additional work, reduced work to save money, etc. You can use the priced bill of quantities to agree on changes within the contract without disputes for overcharging.

Time control

You can use the labour budgets within the estimate to calculate duration times for work activities.

Take the labour budget for an element of work. Divide the budget by the labour hourly rate to give the total hours. Divide the total hours by 8 to give the total days. Divide the total days by the average number of men that you will need to do the work, and the answer will give you the total duration of the activity in days.

To control cost, plan the labour on site so the total duration stays within budget. This can be a challenge when the weather could be better during outside work.

How we can support you

We can save you a lot of time by producing the fully priced bill of quantities for you, obtaining suppliers’ and contractor pricing using our supply chain and supporting you through the construction phase of the works.

Ensuring the works are built to the specification and paying contractors the correct amount ensures the project is completed with the minimum of fuss.

If we have not designed your project and you would like us to give you a proposal for project management, complete the form below; otherwise, just let us know, and we can have a chat to discuss the scope of work you would like us to carry out for you.

More about quantity surveying

Quantity surveying is the art of measuring construction work for cost planning and cost control.

The more you can buy with your budget, the more you can do. The method we use in construction is to develop a priced bill of quantities.

Key benefits of cost planning and a bill of quantities

1. You have a budget to work out your finances.
2. You have a bill of quantities and a material budget to buy from.
3. You can use the bill of quantities to obtain competitive contractor prices
4. The bill of quantities makes it easier for contractors to price the work, and you will get a better response from them.
5. You can use the labour element of the bill of quantities to work out production time for your project timeline chart.
6. You can use the bill of quantities to value work completed to date to ensure you do not overpay contractors.

Learn how to take off quantities

Follow this link to estimating solutions, you will find lots of resources for estimating project costs.

Retaining wall cost examples

Retaining wall cost plan – Farmers Road

The client asked us to design a king post retaining wall as temporary works to excavate a basement. We designed a driven post, and a bored-out post, as the client wanted the most economical solution.

We prepared a piling contractor pricing document to give them all the information they needed to price the project.

The piling contractor preferred the bored-out option as there was less risk of damaging the existing wall close to the piling.

We then developed a steel and panel schedule and obtained prices.

The final report included a bill of quantities fully priced up and a copy of all the quotations we obtained for the steel, concrete panels, and piling contractors.

We then described the best way to procure the materials and select the piling contractor to ensure the best value.

The client saved ten times the cost of our fee using our supply chain.

Retaining wall cost plan – Parkside Road

The project was the demolition of an existing property for the construction of a new one. An existing retaining wall had failed and needed to be rebuilt after the demolition stage and before the new building foundation stage. The retaining wall was going to be used to retain earth during excavation, and then on completion, a half brick wall in facing brick will be built in front of it.

We prepared a piling contractor pricing document to give them all the information they needed to price the project.

Using our supply chain, we obtained several piling contractor proposals.

We then developed a steel and panel schedule and obtained prices.

The final report included a bill of prices fully priced up and a copy of all the quotations for the steel, concrete panels, and piling contractors.

We carried out a cost comparison to use prestressed lintels as the infill panels and 1m high plain concrete panels. The larger panels came out with the best value saving over £1,000.